


last rite

by kalypsobean



Category: Black Death (2010)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-24
Updated: 2010-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-14 01:54:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/144066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalypsobean/pseuds/kalypsobean





	last rite

**Author's Note:**

  * For [caras_galadhon (Galadriel)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galadriel/gifts).



He knows he will die on this journey. There is so much death around him that even faith will not hold it at bay; it thickens the air and casts a pall on even the brightest of brave smiles. It's harder to rise each morning, with his limbs heavy and his throat dry. Duty calls him, and he waits for the end; it is inevitable, and he dares it to come to him.

He won't join with the others in taking comfort; they touch and groan and he turns away, with the tastes of ash and bile on his tongue. His comfort will not come from bodily pleasure; he has not touched himself that way for years now. Instead he removes his jerkin and tabard, and relishes the burning stretch in his arms as he swings his sword through guard and point. This he knows; it is a comfort, that he can save others the way he didn't save them.

There is a mark on his arm, new, and he would know if he'd marked it in the skirmish. Something stirs in his mind, foreboding, then his fingers find a lump near his shoulder that it pains him to touch.


End file.
